old OC rig suggestions

[lti]

Re: old OC rig suggestions

Another case?

[ratdude747]

Re: old OC rig suggestions

yes... the old one didn't fit the dualie board.

anyway, it took a lot more dremel work but I got it done.

I had to :

- modify the psu vent area (had a second set of psu mount holes but the opening was too small)
- add an I/O shield area
-modify the hdd cage to clear the RAM (sidesaddle hdd mount, all i did was nullify the lowest of the 3 hdd bays)

I also popped out the gateway emblem (which was faded) and sanded off the green gateway text. I also had to redo the front I/O wires

I am also goint to mod the new usb card- see more later.

[ratdude747]

Re: old OC rig suggestions

modded the usb/firewire card

about the crad:

-has 2 chips, one for firewire, one for usb 2.0
-both chips are NEC made
-has 2 external usb2.0 ports, one internal usb port, and 2 external firewire ports. also has a couple headers which I have no idea about.
-it also has a molex connector to give extra juice to the firewire
-it's blue and matches the mobo and graphics card (and psu)

what I did was I cut and desoldered the cd-out port off a dead optical drive and swapped that for the intenal usb port. this way, i can use that port for my card reader/floppy combo.

so far, so good... all I need is a set of cpus...

pics to come later.

[ratdude747]

Re: old OC rig suggestions

pics time! (and hopefully, no popcorn! )



The front. its been de-branded, but it seems i forgot to remove the pII and win98 stickers... being chased out of your thankfully detached garage does that.

The DVD drive is a toshiba 4.8x unit. i know, old, but it came with the case and last I checked toshiba was a good optical brand (I have a similar looking dvd-rw burner in my emac). as for a second optical (like a cd-rw), once i have a longer floppy cable, I'll be able to work that out.



the side panel. the vent is good for up to a 140mm fan, but (for any side fan) it would require drilling it out... All I have is a 120mm at this time, I may hunt for a 135/140 and than go drilling... thoughts anybody?



the insides. it looks cramped, but it works very well.

I haven't gotten to mounting an 80mm fan yet... its on the "list" though.



The back. yes, the new I/O hole is poorly cut... I did my best, considering the PITA it was (burnt through 6 dremel discs on that hole). since I have no I/O shield for the board, its not too high on the "list."

also, I metal taped the usb ports, since they are non-functional. just to avoid any dumb*** moments.



The 2 cards, which like the mobo and PSU are blue.

this applies



the usb/firewire combo. the header int he upper right corner was orginally a usb port before I swapped it for a header. its a perfect fir for the cable routing as well... it's a perfect fit. Also note the twin NEC chips, one for firwire (small), one for usb (big). for the $5 I paid for the lot it was in (which had a 775 cooler and a 256mb rambus stick), was that a good deal?

I also dunno about the stock headers... the one on the right appears to be connected to the usb chip and the left to the firewire... from the looks of the the pico fuses, they look to be 2 ports per header for both... what I am unsure of is whether they are actual separate ports or just re-routed ports from the back.

(and yes, the belkin manual mentions NOTHING about the headers)



the dremel'd hdd cage. I had to chop out most of the innermost hdd mount, but not to worry, it still comfortably holds 2 hdds. in the cage. The only thing in danger of contact is the mounts for the lower external 3.5" bay, which I will probably remove.

Also, that ribbon cable seen taught is the floppy cable, which are barely long enough to reach... the mobo put the port at the very bottom of the board...

(and that was a relatively long floppy cable )



the new PSU mount. the mount holes are stock, the opening is not. hence why the psu is upside down... thats right, if I used a modern style psu (120mm+ fan), I'd either be screwed or forced to drill vent holes in the top of the case. Luckily, all the venting on this psu is on the ends, which makes it a perfect match for this unit.

so, How does the BCN crowd like my "new" case?

[ratdude747]

Re: old OC rig suggestions

2 more pics:



i took out the lower 3.5 caddy to make things a bit roomier. I also moved the floppy cable to make my dremel work easier to see.

now that I look at the cage formt his angle, it looks like I can mound 3 hdds still... instead of 4.

I also rerouted some wires:



comments?

[c_hegge]

Re: old OC rig suggestions

Nicely done!

[Scenic]

Re: old OC rig suggestions

the usb/firewire combo. [...] Also note the twin NEC chips, one for firwire (small), one for usb (big). for the $5 I paid for the lot it was in (which had a 775 cooler and a 256mb rambus stick), was that a good deal?

Combo-cards like that go for at least 15eur new here (which is almost $20.. damn the dollar loses value fast Oo), and those are usually the really cheap and nasty ones (mostly Via)

I also dunno about the stock headers... the one on the right appears to be connected to the usb chip and the left to the firewire... from the looks of the the pico fuses, they look to be 2 ports per header for both... what I am unsure of is whether they are actual separate ports or just re-routed ports from the back.
(and yes, the belkin manual mentions NOTHING about the headers)

I just googled the part numbers of the NEC chips.
The NEC D720100AGM is a 5 port (4+1) USB controller, so the pin header has 2 additional USB ports for front USB or another USB bracket at the back.
The NEC D728730C seems to be a 2 port firewire controller, so they might just be re-routed to the pin header (?!)
Continuity check with a DMM might help here..

BTW: if I remember correctly, you have to use the molex plug if you want to use firewire devices, as firewire is supposed to deliver up to 1.5A per port
Depending on the card's design, they might also use it to power the USB ports (I mean.. why not use the 5V from the molex plug? It's there already lol)

[ratdude747]

Re: old OC rig suggestions

yeah, I always use molex plugs.

noted on the header- my case has no front usb and from experince i know the PITA it can be to add (been there, done that)... header bracket?

edit- yup, the usb header is a go (tested with a header plug set from a discarded hp).

too bad my only header bracket I have currently is a 4 port, not a 2 port... I'll have to find one or something.

edit2- btw, the 4 port is all in one block of plastic... so no, I can't just remove 2 ports.

[momaka]

Re: old OC rig suggestions

That's exactly the same case I have for my Gateway Select 750! (except mine has slightly bigger vents on the side and the power button is missing :P .) It's very sturdy too. Just make sure to put the 2 screws on the top plastic cover - those will make the case even stronger. I use mine as a foot rest when I'm reading on that computer .

Good job with the modding.

[ratdude747]

Re: old OC rig suggestions

That's exactly the same case I have for my Gateway Select 750! (except mine has slightly bigger vents on the side and the power button is missing :P .) It's very sturdy too. Just make sure to put the 2 screws on the top plastic cover - those will make the case even stronger. I use mine as a foot rest when I'm reading on that computer .

Good job with the modding.

yeah, my gateway select 700 had the same case as yours. the only difference is the select units have larger vent holes on the side. (edit- you already said that, my bad)

I would have used my old select 700 case but it was in poor condition when I recived it. I will likely end up scrapping it due to the plastics being junked and the metal being scraped up and whatnot.

and yes, I added the 2 screws

I also added a globe ball bearing fan to the back (for now).

now to find CPUs...

[ratdude747]

Re: old OC rig suggestions

I re-routed the floppy cable so I could add a second cdrom... also cleaned up the wires some more.

[ratdude747]

Re: old OC rig suggestions

hit it with fedora 16 (failback mode due to various issues)

also hit it with a slight bit of OC... all I can control is the core freq in 3mhz incriments... right not it is runnign at 36mhz, making the cpu run at 1.41ghz, as opposed to the normal 1300.

question to the masses- I can source a set of 1200+ Athlon MPs for $20. Would that be a good plan or should I keep looking (don't want to spend more than $30 for the cpu set)

[ratdude747]

Re: old OC rig suggestions

Good News: I aquired a set of T-bred 2600+ Athlon MPs.

Bad news: the board refuses to POST with both CPUs installed. It will POST either CPU if the CPU is in socket 0, but put anyhtign in socket 1 and no POST.

Any suggestions? or is the board a goner?

[mariushm]

Re: old OC rig suggestions

Apparently it won't support those :

http://www.gigabyte.com/support-down...id=468&pid=995

But the website is probably not updated.

Otherwise, some mainboards are sensible when it comes to memory. I see you have three modules installed on the board, some boards need a pair of modules for each cpu or equal sized memory for each cpu (2 x 1g and 1 x 2 gb in second channel, something like that)

[ratdude747]

Re: old OC rig suggestions

Apparently it won't support those :

http://www.gigabyte.com/support-down...id=468&pid=995

But the website is probably not updated.

Otherwise, some mainboards are sensible when it comes to memory. I see you have three modules installed on the board, some boards need a pair of modules for each cpu or equal sized memory for each cpu (2 x 1g and 1 x 2 gb in second channel, something like that)

its supported.



(and yes, that is my CPU's stepping)

I wondered that too about the RAM... its not a dual channel board but nevertheless there still could be an issue. Nothing is in the manual regarding RAM pairing/matching

[c_hegge]

Re: old OC rig suggestions

You could try a BIOS update (if not done already).

Another possibility is that your list is what it supports in single CPU configuration.

[ratdude747]

Re: old OC rig suggestions

You could try a BIOS update (if not done already).

Another possibility is that your list is what it supports in single CPU configuration.

bios has already been updated.

i am pretty sure that the list is for dual CPU usage...

[ratdude747]

Re: old OC rig suggestions

I did some research; the RAM theory is out. Athon MPs share the bandwidth.

It looks more and more like a dead socket on the board... damn it.

(what sucks more is that finding another board may be out of budget...)

any more suggestions other than a 10 gauge shotgun?

[ratdude747]

Re: old OC rig suggestions

reflashed the bios, still no luck

looks dead.

[momaka]

Re: old OC rig suggestions

Check the voltage on the VRMs when both CPUs are in the board. Compare that when each CPU is in there individually. I doubt this would be the problem, but probably still worth to check.
Also, with both CPUs in the board, if you remove the RAM, does the board beep to indicate RAM error?

Other ideas:
- Remove all hardware. Try only with basic hardware... i.e. 1 stick of RAM (and try this for several different sticks), no HDD/floppy/optical, and only basic PCI video card or on-board video if the board has any
- Wash the board? (particularly the CPU sockets)
- Try a different PSU (even though this one seems okay)

If not, perhaps just put the board aside for now and wait until you get a post card. The board might just be having a weird problem with both CPUs and not be completely dead.

If bad comes to worse, perhaps use the board for CPU socket removal/replacement practice (and as a bonus, if you get it right, you may have a working board if that turns out to be the problem). This will require some professional soldering equipment, though (see if your university will give you access to any). I would leave this as a last resort, though. A lot of stuff can go wrong doing this.